There is a theory that resurfaces from time to time that there is no better tool for the promotion of an event or sport than the individual brilliance of a superstar performer. News stories grow up around their rare (maybe even freakish) abilities and, through them, the general public are thus introduced to, or reminded of the existence of, the event.

The effect was seen in action again this week as the build-up to the final of this year’s University Challenge seemed to focus entirely on Gail Trimble, captain of the Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

“Is she the cleverest contestant ever?” wondered Paul Gallagher in The Guardian as, en-route to the final, she had scored 825 of the team’s 1,235 points. The writer also informed us that one of her opponents likened her style to “intellectual blitzkrieg”. In the quarter-final, Corpus Christi were so dominant that they only allowed the University of Exeter 15 points – a new low-score record for the current series under Jeremy Paxman.

A quick post to announce that I will be MC’ing (by which I guess I mean hosting and writing the questions for) a charity table quiz here in Ennis, Co. Clare, on Friday 13th March. The venue will be Brandon’s and the quiz will be starting at 8pm.

The event is in aid of Habitat for Humanity, and specifically two local ladies, Aine Pyne and Eimear McInerney, who are travelling to Honduras next June with the charity, along with their team leader Paddy Jordan, an old friend of mine from university.

Prizes and admission are tbc. You’ll know as soon as I do.

I’m quite excited about this as it’ll be the first quiz that I’ll have ran since about 2004!

Sunday nights in the author’s childhood home had a metronomic regularity to them. Before 9pm (the dreaded “bedtime”) arrived, the following schedule was obeyed: homework had to be done by 7pm so that the Sunday night bath could be fitted in before 8pm. This was so we could then watch Where in the World? (8pm, hosted by the lovely Ms Lowe) and Glenroe (at 8.30) before vanishing up the stairs so our dad could watch the Nine O’Clock News in peace.

WitW? may be the show that got me into quizzing. To paraphrase JFK this was not because it was hard, but because it was easy. In fact, the ease with which I could answer 90% of the questions asked each week led to a love/hate relationship with the show.

Unlike Countdown in the UK, WitW? had a minimum age requirement of 18 for entrants. This seemed horribly unfair at the time. I quite fancied the idea of winning a holiday to Rio de Janeiro! Also I knew someone who had appeared on it. One of my former primary school teachers took part, along with the rest of his table quiz team. I’ve forgotten how they got on now, all I can remember is that they all had to adopt the one surname (to preserve the illusion that they were members of a family). His appearance showed that, if you were good enough (i.e. did the odd quiz), you could get on – it wasn’t a closed shop. Except if you were under 18.

What happened the year I did reach the magical age of qualification? RTÉ cancelled the show.

Myself and my Mrs took ourselves off to the cinema last Friday to finally see Slumdog Millionaire. It’s been out in Ireland since January 9 but our local picture house, the Empire Multiplex, operates in a different timezone, where all but the biggest blockbusters arrive several weeks late. If at all.

But I digress. The movie itself is excellent. It was easy to see why it’s been nominated for so many Academy Awards. The story is touching and some of the shots are fantastic, really making use of the fact that India is DIFFERENT.

However, this is a blog about quizzes so, quite properly, this post is all about the quiz that acts as the base around which exposition and the plot are constructed.